Like Ivan Drago, turns out Emmanuel Clase can, in fact, bleed.

Clase, the Cleveland Guardians supreme closer who was the best reliever in Major League Baseball during the regular season, gave up a two-out, three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter in the ninth inning Monday as the Tigers stunned the Guardians and a sellout crowd at Progressive Field in Cleveland in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.

It was just the third homer Clase has allowed this season, and the first since August. It was the first homer he allowed to a left-handed hitter — lefties had a miniscule .282 OPS against him during the regular season (right-handers were not a whole lot better, at .492) — as Carpenter hit a two-strike slider some 423 feet into the stands in right.

"Emmanuel has been locked down all year. He's been nearly perfect," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said after the series-shifting 3-0 loss to the Tigers, sending the ALDS to Detroit all tied at a win apiece. "He's human, too.

"These things are going to happen, and it's unfortunate the timing of when it did. But at the same time, he's going to have the ball in the ninth again.

"This is the best closer in the game for a reason, and they just happened to get him tonight."

Clase's sixth pitch to Carpenter was thrown at 94 mph, and it left Carpenter's bat at 111 mph, a huge wound for a Guardians bullpen that was the best in Major League Baseball this season, and had thrown 8 2/3 scoreless innings in the series to that point. Clase came on in the eighth inning and got Wenceel Perez to line out to left, where Steven Kwan made a diving catch that was, in fact, ruled a catch and upheld on replays, even though it was debatable.

Clase then came back out in the ninth inning, the second time he's worked in two different innings all season. He last did it in August, throwing two scoreless, hitless innings against the New York Yankees. He got the first two outs rather easily Monday, before Jake Rogers and Trey Sweeney singled, bringing up Carpenter.

There was no thought of walking Carpenter to load the bases for right-handed-hitting Matt Vierling, Vogt said.

"No. You got the best pitcher in the world on the mound," Vogt said. "You're going to let him face any hitter.

"Carpenter is a phenomenal hitter. He got a mistake slider, and he didn't miss it. Gotta tip your cap."

It was the first three-run home run allowed by Clase in his MLB career.

Carpenter hit his first career playoff homer as Detroit sent the series back to Comerica Park for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday. Detroit's Game 2 win gives home-field advantage to the Tigers.

The three runs were the first runs Clase has allowed since late August, and it was the first time in 2024 he has allowed multiple runs in a game. He allowed four hits ― Vierling followed Carpenter with an infield single as Clase was slow getting over to cover first base. Clase hadn't allowed more than two in a game all season.

Clase's first three pitches to Carpenter were fastballs at 99 and 100 mph, then he threw three straight sliders, with Carpenter hitting the third one deep into the early evening Cleveland sky. The slider is Clase's second-best pitch, behind the triple-digit fastball.

Clase, 26, was 4-2 with a 0.61 ERA during the regular season, good for a 4.5 WAR, as he's poised to finish runner-up in the AL Cy Young race, behind surefire runaway winner Tarik Skubal, who threw seven shutout innings for Detroit on Monday. Clase worked a 1-2-3 inning to finish off the 7-0 Game 1 win, striking out one.

He had allowed one earned run in 23 innings before Carpenter, who had one homer in the ninth inning or later during the regular season, went deep, handing Clase his first loss since Aug. 5.

"I mean, we've lost games like this before," said Vogt, who went to Eli Morgan for the final out. "Maybe not this exact game, but we're resilient. We're going to fight right back on Wednesday. It was such a great baseball game tonight.

"That was a lot of fun, pitching on both sides. And they just got the big hit, and we didn't."

Before Clase entered in the eighth, Guardians relievers Cade Smith, Tim Herrin and Hunter Gaddis kept the Tigers scoreless. All three of them also pitched in Game 1.

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